La Mesa criticizes study showing it with highest sewer rates

LA MESA  La Mesa city officials are taking issue with a study done for Lemon Grove that showed La Mesa with the highest sewer rates in the region.

Lemon Grove this week voted to raise its monthly sewer charges to $41.69 for a single family home starting June 16. The study, done by Bartle Wells Associates, showed La Mesa’s rate was $50.91.

In a statement released Thursday, La Mesa’s director of public works/city engineering, said a mistake was made in the study’s calculations.

If done correctly, said Greg Humora, “The monthly sewer rate for La Mesa, as calculated in the Lemon Grove study, would have been $40.22, which would have been less than the average monthly rate for all 13 agencies (that were evaluated) of $41.97.”

Humora said the city’s monthly average sewer rate for single family residents is $37.44.